Packy knows how to keep cool: He heads for the swimming hole in the Oregon Zoo's elephant yard.

The zoo released a video Monday of the 6-ton pachyderm playing with a water jet and tossing a 500-pound log.

Packy, at 52, is the oldest male Asian elephant in North America -- and the pool time provides some water therapy to help him cope with typical geriatric aches and pains, zoo officials say. His health is good (he's taking to the most recent course of treatment for tuberculosis and shows no clinical signs of illness), but he's slowing down, they say.

"At his age, we just want to give him the most comfortable life we can," animal curator Bob Lee said in a news release.

Packy heads to the pool as 100 degree temps nearDuring this recent stretch of hot weather, Packy the elephant has been starting his days with a swim at the Oregon Zoo. This morning, zoo videographers filmed him ambling over to a 10-foot-deep swimming hole in the zoo’s front elephant yard, where he played with a water jet and tossed around a 500-pound log.